Kiss the Inu
by animeandraia
Summary: As the contest progresses, Ryuji shows his feminine side. Everyone's a bit off their rockers, but does it really matter to Jounouchi? Not really, he's still too confused to know whats going on. (yaoi: SJ OJ mild SO)
1. The first day

Taryn: alrighty

Faye: What?!?! You're doing another one! You haven't finished anything else!

Taryn: ^^;; err… yah… but this idea kept going through my head… and Chris convinced me to write it.

Yami: and it's not about me! *cries*

Ryuji: -_-;; spoiled pharaoh…

Taryn: err… let's just go to the fic.

Disclaimer: If I owned anything then I'd have money to buy the Fruits Basket DVDs and watch them for hours on end. But alas I don't own either of them. So all I own is the idea. Oh, and credit for the title goes to Chris (hotaruchan27) since I couldn't think of a decent one. 

Warning: this contains **yaoi. That means guy X guy romance. This fic also contains bad words and mature content. If you don't like any of these things turn back now.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Kiss the Inu**

(Anything in _italics_ is Jou's thoughts)

Jou fiddled with his pencil in math. The damned thing wasn't working. In frustration he threw it at the desk, the pencil bounced off the desk and across the isle. _Oh shit…that wasn't good…_He thought and groaned inwardly.

It was the first week of school and things had not been going too well. Jounouchi Katsuya was having one hell of a bad week. He was stuck in classes all day with Seto Kaiba, his arch rival, and had by some bad fate wound up sitting near him in every class. 

"Lost your pencil mutt?" Seto asked and smirked while he held up the broken pencil. 

"Oh, just shut up will you." Ryuji Otogi said from behind Jou. Ryuji was farily new to Domino High, but Jou and his friends had met him the previous year. Ryuji was the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters and in Jou's eyes just as annoying as the owner of KaibaCorp.

"Why don't cha two just shut da hell up?" Jou asked, completely frustrated, and leaned his head against the desk. He now had a serious headache, and this banter was **not** helping it. _If I could, I would hurt these two. Or just make em shut up. Nothing could be worse than having to suffer through their torment. _Jounouchi looked at his watch, it read 2:22. _Hey, if all the numbers in the time are da same den aren't you supposed to make a wish? Well, den I wish dat Ryuji and Seto would see me as me, and not as this "mutt" and show some respect to me._

While Jou had tuned them out they had began bickering. But what Ryuji said caught Jou completely by surprise. 

"Kaiba, you are such an ass! Just because Jou can be a dope doesn't mean he's a bad person. Actually, he's one of the best people around here. You should have more respect for him."

"You're one to talk. You had him dress in a dog costume in national television."

"I know, and now I realize the errors in my ways." Ryuji turned to Jou and said sincerely "I'm sorry Jounouchi for how I've treated you. I truly am."

Jou turned and looked at the raven haired teen behind him. _This is weird… It's probably some sick demented joke that the ass thought would be funny. Well it really fucking isn't. Now I wish they'd just shut up and leave me the hell alone. Stupid Kaiba, stupid Otogi!_

"Look, the puppy's confused. Why don't you whine?"

Jou turned to the CEO and yelled at him. "Will ya shut da fuck up? I'm tired o harin your snide ass remarks. You're nothin but a moron with too much fuckin pride that thinks he's better dan everyone since he's got more money. Now, why dontcha leave me alone 'fore I teach ya a few things 'bout fightin."

The whole math class was now staring at Jou. Most of the girls were completely wide-eyed. Most of the guys had that fight gleam in their eyes and the teacher looked amused.

"Mr. Katsuya, Mr. Kaiba, it seems that you are having some differences ne? As much as I don't care if you do or don't  pay attention in my class, when you start having a bitch fight, so to speak, I'm going to have to ask you to tone it down, or go outside. Now, can you manage to tone it down, or must I ask you to leave?"

"Sorry sensei." The two boys said in unison. Malik, who was sitting across the class from them snickered and shook his head.  Yuugi who sat by Malik looked slightly worried since he knew very well how bad Jou's temper could get.

_Now I'm **really gonna kill Seto. He made the most easygoing sensei ever yell at me. Damn him! Damn him to hell!**_

"Alright then boys. Just keep your voices down. And remember, no violence in the classroom. That's the only thing that I really can't tolerate other than people making out in public." The sensei smiled and turned back to the work that he had been doing. 

"Now, look what you did puppy. You barked and got everyone's attention." Seto said smugly.

"Oh, shove it up yours, money bags." Ryuji said irritably.

"You're one to speak. Look at all the money you're making with Dungeon Dice Monsters."

"Yah, but it's not like I keep it all. I donate a lot of it to charities." Ryuji said and glared at the brunette.

"You know what guys? I don't give a damn, so just leave me alone." Jou said and glared at them both. Jou then went back to do his math but realized that Seto still had his pencil. He was about to turn and yell at Seto to give it back when he felt something sharp jab him in the back. He turned around and glared at the green eyed teen behind him, ready to punch his lights out if need be but Ryuji offered him a pencil and smiled.

Surprised Jou took the pencil and muttered a quiet thank you and returned to his work.

~*~*~*~ (Italics now Ryuji's thoughts)

_Why is Seto such an ass to Jou? I sort of understand though. I used to be that way too. But I mostly just used that to hide my true feelings towards the blonde. In truth I really like him. There's just something about him that draws him to me. I've known it since I first met him. And it's not like liking a member of the same sex is something new to me. I've known that I was bi for a very long time now. I really think that sex shouldn't matter. Well, sex as in gender doesn't matter. Sex as in love making does matter, but the gender of the partner doesn't matter. Wow that's confusing…_

Ryuji looked at the blond in front of him. He so wanted to touch that soft hair. Or at least he thought it was soft. It looked soft and silky, and it had a slightly fruity scent. The smell was driving Ryuji absolutely mad. It had been all week. 

_I wish I could just go and tell Jou my true feelings but the way I've been treating him… I think I may have scared him away. I really didn't want to do that. But I did, and now I have to live with that mistake. But I want him so much. And I realize the error in my ways. And now I'll try to correct those that try to hurt Jounouchi. I will make them see the true him. I will make him see that I'm not really the person that he thinks I am, that I just hide under this flashy exterior. I want to show him love… I want to be his, and him to be mine._

But the fates were definitely against him today because shortly after that the bell rang signaling the end of the day. Ryuji would no longer have time to watch the golden haired boy that had captured his heart.

Luckily though, Kaiba left the room immediately while Jou stayed to talk to Ryuji.

"Hey, thanks for lendin me da pencil." Jou said and handed the pencil back to Ryuji.

"It was no problem really." Ryuji said and smiled. "I always bring extra. You never know when the damned things will stop working on you."

Jou smiled slightly at this. "And thanks for defendin me earlier too. I don't know what's changed you, but whatever it is, I wish it'd affect Kaiba too. I really want that snot off of ma back."

_I don't want him there either… I want to be on you… our warm bodies together… damn, I really must stop thinking this way, it's going to get me in trouble some day._

"Kaiba's just an ass. Don't mind him."

"It's kinda hard to when he's in yer face calling you a dog." 

"I get your point. But look Jou, I really am sorry. I just… don't think sometimes. A lot of the time."

Jou raised an eyebrow. He was still definitely suspicious of Ryuji.

_I have to think of a way to get him to trust me. I want him to love me…_

"What exactly mad ya change yer mind about me so suddenly Ryuji? Did ya have a change of heart or somethin?"

"In a way… look, are you busy tonight?"

Jounouchi's eyes widened and he backed away slightly.

_Damn you Ryuji… you're to fucking blunt, too open… now you've traumatized him that was definitely not good. Well, at least he hasn't nailed me with a text book yet and started screaming perverted freak at me… that could be a good sign. _

"Wha… wha… what did ya say?" Jounouchi asked, eyes wide

"Just… nevermind…" Ryuji said dejectedly and started to head out of the classroom.

Jounouchi grabbed Ryuji by the arm, "No, wait, did ya just ask me out? Like on a date…?"

"Ya? So?" Ryuji was starting to get defensive if Jounouchi was going reject him, then Ryuji was going to make it look like he didn't care. 

"It's not that I… uh… that I… well, I 'aint disgusted if dat's what you're thinkin. I just dun know how to act."

Ryuji unclenched his hands slightly. _So he doesn't hate me… but does he like me? Or am I going to be rejected? I knew I should have waited longer._

"So?" Ryuji asked there was almost a slight fear in his eyes now, but he still managed to keep his calm demeanor.

"I'm busy tonight, but I could do it sometime next week." A dopey grin washed across the face of the honey eyed teen.

"That's great!" Ryuji yelled and positively beamed. Realizing he looked like a sugar high fangirl he blushed and refrained himself from doing a victory dance. 

Jounouchi laughed. "You want my number or something?

"Sounds great." Ryuji dug through his binder and pulled out a pen and some scrap paper. Jounouchi quickly jotted his number down and Ryuji did the same. They then exchanged numbers and were about to leave when the sensei returned. 

"What are you two still doing here? Get out, it's the weekend. Be merry, drink, have hot monkey sex. I don't care, as long as you're out of my class!" He said in a cheery voice and made shooing motions. 

"Yes" the two boys said in unison, gathered up their books and headed out of the class. 

The sensei closed the door after them and they found themselves very much alone in the hallway just like they had been in the classroom.

"So, I'll call you then?" Ryuji asked a mischievous smile now on his face.

"Sure." Jou said. He still seemed a tad shocked but fairly excited as well.

Ryuji leaned forward, caught Jou's lips in a quick and soft kiss, and was halfway down the hallway before Jounouchi could say anything. 

_Ryuji, you are good. _And Ryuji smiled.

~*~*~*~ (italics now seto's thoughts)

Seto leaned against the door of his dark blue BMW. It was unusual for the young CEO to drive to school but today was a special day. Today he was going to gain a puppy weather the mutt agreed to it or not. _Soon, If everything goes according to what I have planned, then I'll have him begging at my feet, so to speak. I wonder if he's going to his locker yet. Dan, he's taking too long_

Seto glanced at his watch; it had only been two minutes since the last time he'd looked at it. And only 14 minutes since school had gotten out. 

_Damn mutt…_ Seto closed his eyes and just listened to the sounds around him.

Suddenly he felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder. Thinking that it was Jounouchi, Seto reached over and wrapped a hand around the person's waist without looking at them. He drew the person beside him in closer and whispered into their ear "it took you long enough" he then drew their lips together in a soft short kiss. After breaking the kiss he opened his eyes.

Instead of seeing the honey brown eyes which he was expecting Seto cam face to face with mischievous green eyes much like those of a cat.

"Wow. I had no idea that you felt that way Seto. As wonderful as screwing you senseless sounds appealing, my heart is claimed by another." Ryuji had a look much like that of the Cheshire cat on his face. 

Seto could do nothing but gape at the raven haired teen standing before him. _Oh damn. Bad move Seto. Very bad move. Now the cat knows…_

"You're a damn good kisser though. I feel envy for the person you were waiting for."

Seto was now regaining motor control. "Y-y-you. H-h-how did you?" Seto stuttered. 

"Hm? You're not making too much sense Seto-kun."

"Why did you… but I thought you…"

"Were someone else. People always say that. People never really see the real me. Well it does happen on occasion." Ryuji was now twirling a long strand of ebony hair around his finger, he seemed to be lost in thought. 

"Uh, am I interrupting somethin?" A familiar voice said from behind Ryuji. The two boys turned to see a slightly bewildered looking Jounouchi who was holding Ryuji's number in one hand and some flowers and a letter in the other.

Upon seeing Jounouchi Ryuji eyes took on an even more mischievous gleam. "Jounouchi-kun! That's who it was!" Ryuji exclaimed excitedly which caused both of the other boys to look at him. 

"What do you mean?" Jounouchi asked. He was even more confused than before. 

Seto on the other hand blushed even more. _Damn, he's smart… but what the hell am I going to do now? I'm in too deep and it's all going to be out in the open in a minute. _Well, not that Ryuji didn't already know...__ But I'm amazed that Jounouchi hasn't figured it out yet .Maybe he is stupider than I thought... __

"Well, when I came out here to the parking lot to get my car I saw Seto standing here all alone. Since I needed to talk business with him, I decided to come and talk. But, somehow, he decided that kissing me was what he really wanted to do. After opening and closing his mouth like a fish several thousand times he informed me that I wasn't the person intended for that lovely kiss." Ryuji smiled upon finishing his explanation.

Jounouchi's eyes widened. He had obviously put two and two together. But he obviously didn't know what to do with his answer now that he had it. "S-Seto, you were the one who…"

"Yah…" Seto said quietly. He was now becoming less red and more pink.

"Huh." Was all that Jounouchi could say. Jounouchi looked back and forth between the two boys who within the last hour had gone from being Jounouchi's worst enemies to admitting that they in fact cared for Jounouchi.

"Isn't this interesting? Those you thought were your enemies now reveal that they are in fact in love with you. That's got to be a shock to the system." Ryuji said still twirling his hair.

 "Yah." Jounouchi said in a daze.

Seto who had regained most of his composure by now said "So, who will it be then?"

The slightly arrogant voice of Seto Kaiba was enough to snap Jounouchi out of his trance. "Choose?" Jounouchi asked.

"As in which one of us do you want." Ryuji sad in a seductive voice and moved a hand up Jounouchi's side.

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise but he leaned into the touch slightly. "I don't know! I don't really even understand what's happening. I don't even know if I'm gay!" Jounouchi's voice was rising in both volume and pitch as the realization of what was happening sunk in.

"You don't have to choose right now Jou-kun. Maybe you should give us a chance to prove ourselves."

"Not that I'll need to do that much proving" Seto said smugly.

Ryuji just rolled his eyes and began absently tossing two green dice in the air. A hand snaked in to grab the dice but Ryuji knocked the hand away and caught the dice with his other hand. He glared at the person that had attempted to take away the dice. Not surprised that it was Seto Ryuji just shrugged it off. 

Seto just glared at Ryuji, which provoked Ryuji to glare back and the two were then fixed in a glaring contest. 

"Okay den." Jounouchi said breaking off the glaring contest. "You each get a chance. One of you will take me on a date next Friday. And the other will have me on the night after. Work it out with yerselves who gets me which night. You can also do whatever you want during the next week of school." Jounouchi then walked away. The two other boys stared after him.

"Do you have a preference Seto-kun?" Ryuji asked. He continued to toss the dice into the air and catch them.

"Not really. Either way I'm going to win."

"Don't be so sure of yourself. You're not the master of every game. Actually, thanks to Yuugi you're not the master of any game."

"And you're one to talk."

"He may have beaten me at my own game, but I'm still a dice master."

"Whatever."

"So do you want Friday or Saturday? Because if you don't care then I want Friday."

"Fine with me." Seto said and walked around the car and began to get in.

"Hey Seto, "Ryuji said. Seto looked up and Ryuji flicked a die at Seto. Seto ducked out of the way to prevent losing an eye.

"What the hell was that for?" Seto yelled.

"To keep you on your toes." Ryuji said with a smirk and headed off towards his car. "You're going to need to be prepared since you're never going to be able to predict what I'm going to do next in this little game."

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Taryn: I hope you liked it!

Seto: *glares* I would not be stupid enough to mistake Ryuji for Jounouchi.

Ryuji: yes you would… One time you mistook Yuugi for Jounouchi.

Seto: HOW DID YOU FIND OUT?!?!

Taryn: Billie… 

Seto: WHAT?!?! *storms off to find Billie*

Faye: anywho, please review. 

Taryn: flames will be given to Bakura to do with as he pleases. I don't think you want a pyro like him running around with fire. I know I don't.

Bakura: So go ahead and flame… just worry about what I'll do with the fire after I get it. 


	2. A Lesson in Proper Bathroom Etiquette

Taryn: ^^ an update!

Faye: *nods* it's remarkable…

Taryn: *nod nod* very remarkable… so is the number of reviews. O.O 29 on both ff.n and AFF!! AMAZING! THANK YOU ALL! 

To **Lady Geuna**(ff.n):I'm glad you likes. ^^ love triangles be fun *nod nod*

To **Jou-pup(**ff.n): lol. And I tried to hurry… heh, not very hurrysome o.o I dun think that's a word…

To **Yami Bakura Fan** (ff.n): well… they could go worse… but they won't. I hope. ^^ I think o.o and I'm glad you like it. *nods*

To **DM-san** (ff.n): shame shame… I dunno about an o word (o.o I think the full version might get me in trouble with some lil tattle… evil tattles…) I was sorta thinking of keeping this fic under NC-17

To **hotaruchan27** (ff.n): ooo bad idea with the matches… well, if he gets my school then I can forgive him. ^^ And Beverly Hillbillies is priceless. *nod nod* Like the one with the ostritch! Eh heh… haven't seen those in a while. 

To **Angel-belle** (ff.n): heh… I think he was drunk or something… can't remember anymore. Thanks for the review.

To **Dou Tenshi** (ff.n): *nods* Jou is awesome. ^^ you just have to love him no matter what. 

To **Akashi**** Yume (ff.n): thankies**

To **Terra Kaiba** (ff.n): I shall

To **PanDora** (ff.n): thank you, and I'm glad you like

To **shadowguardian** (ff.n): lol… not the brightest genius ever… that made no sense! ^^;; oh well…

To **Twilight Dreams** (ff.n): ooo thankies. ^^

To **Assassin in the Shadows** (ff.n): no no not stupid. O.O it's bloody hard to write in it too! But I want to keep it realistic… *mutter mutter*

To **xxkurenaixx** (ff.n): heh, we all want Jounouchi. Except for those idiots who dun like him. Eh… that comment's gonna get me hit by someone…

To **PawPrints** (ff.n): there's not really voting… but thanks for reviewin!

To **RavenWings** (AFF): simple, you add stories by going into your user options, then putting the story id number in the box. *nod nod* and I'm glad you enjoyed it. 

To **Dragondreamer**** Yami Dragon (AFF): lol catfight… O.O but what happens when a cat and a dragon fight…? Something's gonna die…**

To **Heather-chan** (AFF): ooo I'm working on updates. CANDY! ^^ *too excited with candy to worry about what Bakura might be up to*

To **sky **(AFF): thanks

To **The Mystical Dragon** (AFF): lol, thanks

To **Kitt** (AFF): thanks

To **Sharem** (AFF) I'm glad you do.

To **AngelicMouseGirl** (AFF): I know, isn't he a sweet teacher. ^^ I want him… and thanks for reviewing.

To **NekoJounouchiAKAJams**** (AFF): lol. *pokes Seto plushie with spork* be good little one, or you shall suffer! **

To **YamiJou** (AFF): I'm glad you like. ^^ And I didn't mean to make you angry with me… that's just where I wanted to end it… it was a good place to end. *shrugs*

To **Sapphire Tsumnami** (AFF): S/J and S/O are my fave pairings… ^^ thanks for the review!

To **Sekky** (AFF): sure I can… I lose fics all the time too. ^^;; and thanks for revieiwing.

Taryn: O.O that took forever! GAH! 

Faye: *not pying attention* *singing* I want to change the world. kaze wo kakenukete nanimo osorezu ni

ima yuuki to egao no KAKERA daite

Taryn: um… yami… I love Inuyasha too, but could we please get back to the fic?

Faye: hm? *glances around* oh, you're don… ^^;;

Taryn: ugh…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot, so you no sue.

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**Chapter 2: A Lesson in Proper Bathroom Etiquette**

Jounouchi walked down the street slowly. He was actually running early this morning. He had gotten plenty of sleep last night, and was in a fairly good mood. 

"Hey! Jounouchi!" Someone yelled from behind Jou.

Jou turned around to see Ryou waving like a madman. He had a slightly insane smile on his face… Jou worried that it was in fact Ryou's yami that had control of his body. But when Ryou came closer, Jou noted that it was in fact Ryou. '_I wonder what Ryou wants…'_

"Jounouchi, I need to ask you for your advice."

"Shoot."                                           

Ryou looked puzzled, "Shoot what? Are you implying that I should fire a projectile weapon at an innocent creature with the objective to kill it? Most likely for sport?"

_'Oi…'_ "…"

"Jounouchi?"

"Err… just what were ya askin for advice for?"

"Oh, right. Well, there's this person, let's call the person A, and well… I feel things for this person…" Ryou trailed off. There was a faint blush forming on his cheeks. 

"So what you're telling me is that there's someone you like? Who is it? C'mon! Can't ya tell yer friend?"

"Err… no…"

"C'mon! Who's the lucky girl?" Jounouchi was now excited.

Ryou blushed even more. "Wh-wh-who said it was a girl?"

Jounouchi's eyes widened "Ryou! You're gay? Why didn't you tell me?"

"well… Jounouchi… I err…" He trailed off, clearly at a loss for words" I'm gay." Ryou stated simply and shrugged.

Jououchi just laughed and looped an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders "C'mon, we can figure this thing out together. I got no idea what the hell I'm doin either."

"Y-y-you're gay?"

"No idea Ryou, I've got myself in an interesting jam."

"Jam? What happened?"

"I'm not sure if you'd believe me."

"Just try me."

"Well, it all began yesterday in math class…"

~*~by Ryou's locker 10 minutes later~*~

"Remarkable!" Ryou exclaimed.

"Well, dat's one way to put it." Jounouchi muttered and leaned against the locker next to Ryou's.

Jounouchi had explained the whole story to his snowy haired friend. Ryou had found it like something out of a movie. Except it didn't cost $10 to see it opening night.

"It must be exciting! You're at the peak of a love triangle! You have two gorgeous-" Jounouchi clamped a hand over Ryou's mouth before he could say anything along the lines of males or guys. 

"Shush Ry! You dun have to tell da whole school!"

"Sorry! It's just so exciting… I mean, WOW!" He was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

Jounouchi chuckled, "Exactly how many cups?"

"err… you mean of coffee?" 

"No, I mean of tequila." Jounouchi rolled his eyes, "Of course I mean coffee!"

"…"

"Ry…"

"four."

"Holy shit! No wonder you're so energetic!"

Ryou giggled, "How about you?"

"Only two."

The two friends laughed, then Ryou looked at his watch. "Oh dear, I must be going, I'm supposed to meet Yuugi in the cafeteria 10 minutes before class… I'm four minutes late! Tell me how the contest is going at lunch!" and with that Ryou was down the hall in the blink of an eye. Well, he did take a little detour to the floor when he tripped over the garbage can, but that only took a few seconds.

"Right." Jounouchi muttered and headed off down the hall to his locker. He spun the lock and opened it on the first try. '_It's kinda odd that I haven't seen Ryuji or Seto yet… holy…' Jounouchi stared at the present that sat on the shelf of his locker. '__How da hell did one of 'em get inta my locker? No one knows my combination besides Yuugi and Shizuka and me. Damn, one of 'em must have been recruited. Probably Seto did it.' Jounouchi tentatively reached forward and grasped the present. He turned it over in his hands. It was in shiny silver wrapping paper. Not finding a note attached, Jou looked in the shelf of his locker and found a single piece of paper on which was written "puppy" in very neat and perfectly shaped handwriting._

"Kaiba…" Jou muttered.

He then opened ht gift. The box under the wrapping was plain and black. He tried to open the box but for some unbeknownst reason it wouldn't oblige. "Damn box… why da hell wontcha open?" He then noticed the tape. '_Oops… damn tape…_ _I always get stuped by da tape.' Jou tugged at the offending tape, and. after a moment of hard battle, he removed it, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it onto the floor where it promptly attached itself to someone's shoe._

"Morning." Said a soft voice from Jou's right. Jou turned to see Ryuji calmly leaning against the locker next to his.

"Hi Ryuji." Jou muttered.

"What'd rich boy buy you?"

"Huh?"

"Your present… or at least I'm assuming that's what it is. What'd Seto buy you?"

"Oh yah!" _Jou, 'dis is **not da time to play the idiot. Now just open the box Jounouchi…'**_

Jou slid the box open to reveal a gorgeous black metal pen with a Red Eyes Black dragon curled around the top.

"Holy…" Ryuji muttered as he stared in awe.

"Moley…" Jou finished, gaping just the same as Ryuji.

"that thing looks like it could be lethal…"

"It looks like it cost an arm and a leg… and another arm and leg…"

"Hey, I wonder if it's got any James Bond worthy tools in it… Hey, click it twice and see if anything happens."

Obediently Jou clicked the pen twice. They both waited. Nothing happened.

"Like it pup?" Seto said as he came up behind them both. 

Both Ryuji and Jounouchi jumped.

"Don't you realize it activates the Bat signal?" Seto said jokingly.

"Very funny." Ryuji muttered sarcastically.

"No better than your James Bond one." Seto shot back.

Ryuji was about to make a snide remark when Seto's cell phone rang. Scowling, Seto answered the phone. Glaring he waved goodbye to Jou and Ryuji and headed off down the hallway towards the front doors of the school. 

"that was odd…" Jou muttered as he absently spun his newly acquired pen in his hand

"Yah, who'd have thought that Seto Kaiba of all people would know something about comic books… let alone Batman."

"Ok, that was odd too." Jou said

"Well, I just stopped by to tell you that I'm going to be taking you out this Friday. You don't need to dress up fancy or anything. Just wear shoes that you can walk in. I'll pick you up say 6:00ish?"

"Uh sure. That sounds great." Jou said and smiled goofily.

"Now there's just one more thing I have to show you."

"Hm? And what's that?"

"Grab your books quick, we don't have a lot of time left."

Jou hastily shoved his backpack into his locker and proceeded to grab the books he needed for his morning classes. He closed his locker with a bang, spinning the lock to make sure it was locked. Ryuji grabbed Jou's arm and hurried down the hall, Jou in tow. They cut through crowds of students, nearly ploughing over several freshmen (had they, it wouldn't have mattered much though since they were only freshmen). Ryuji suddenly turned into the boy's bathroom, which was completely deserted. 

"What do y-"

Ryuji pushed Jou up against the wall just on the other side of the door and then claimed his lips in a passionate kiss. Jou willingly complied, letting Ryuji's body press him against the wall. Their moment of perpetual bliss was brutally shattered when the washroom door swung open suddenly and somebody entered. The person coughed, "It appears that I'm interrupting something… I'll just go the other washroom. Don't stop due to me wandering in."

Jou and Ryuji broke apart just in time to see the retreating form of Bakura. Ryuji waited for the door to close, and then he burst out laughing, mostly because of the completely shocked look on Jou's face.

"Don't look so surprised Jou, it is a public restroom after all."

"Oh… right…" Jou said and shifted uncomfortably.

The bell then rang, making Jou jump at least half a foot in the air. Ryuji just laughed harder than he had been before.

"Man, are you jumpy. I think there should be no more coffee for you in the morning."

Four boys then burst through the door, one of them running to the nearest sink bearing a bloody nose.

"Um… maybe we should get to class then?" Ryuji asked and smiled at his still stunned almost boyfriend.

"Err… yah… class." Jou said, glancing at the other boys worriedly, wondering if they suspected anything.

Jou bent down to retrieve his books which he had dropped the instant Ryuji had kissed him, all the while with Ryuji watching his ass with a mischievous smirk. Noticing this Jou blushed even more, now having a face the hue of an overripe tomato.

"I didn't think a colour that vibrant was possible on someone's face." Ryuji said thoughtfully, twirling a silky strand of hair around his finger "But I think it's quite adorable."

Jou's eyes widened. He turned his head to see if the four boys had heard Ryuji's comment. Thankfully they seemed to be too absorbed in the wellbeing of their bleeding friend. 

They both headed off down the hallway, towards their first period class, which, unfortunately for them, was history with a teacher quite similar in teaching manner to Professor Binns. [1]

~*~

It was now nearly the end of second period. And also nearly the end of physics. After a week of doing nothing but review on scientific notation and SI unit conversions Jou had decided that he didn't much like physics. Glancing down at the hastily done problems that he had finished 12 minutes prior, he read them over to check if they were correct. Still not finding any errors he glanced over at Seto who was sitting next to him. Seto's worksheet did not have any sloppy work done on it. The answers were neatly written on the blanks, and other than that the sheet was unmarred. 

Seto glanced over to notice Jou looking at his sheet. He raised an eyebrow if asking a question. Jou glanced away to look at Ryuji who was sitting on the opposite side of the room, absently doodling on his worksheet and staring at a fly who was frantically trying to get into one of the humming fluorescent lights. 

Twirling the pen he had received from Seto in his hand, Jou glanced at the teacher whom he fantasized stabbing with the lethal pen… or possibly shoving it up her gigantic nose. Anything really to liven up the class and possibly let them out earlier. But after carefully analyzing the situation he decided against it for the sole fact that it would probably get him kicked out of the class and that wasn't really something that he wanted to have happen at the moment. 

Jou looked up at the clock. Only 10:12. That meant 33 more minutes of physics. Feeling a sensation of boredom wash over him, he slumped forward, resting his head on his binder. He closed his eyes and thought about getting out of this class… and the possibility of making out with either Seto or Ryuji… or both.

He stayed like that for several moments, drifting in and out of reality. Finally he felt something sharp jab into his side repeatedly. Groaning he opened his eyes and lifted his head off the paper. Seto was looking at him with a look of annoyance.

"Wha?" Jou muttered, sounding slightly annoyed.

"You were snoring… I woke you for you own good." Seto shot back quietly.

"Oh… thanks then." Jou said, glancing away. He looked up at the physics teacher who was sitting at her desk. '_Man does she have big nostrils… I bet you could stick a hot dog up one…'_ Too bad he didn't have a hot dog…

Looking down at the black pen he seriously contemplated sticking it up her nose. Suspension or not, he was curious. 

Shoving his chair back, Jou stood up. He marched up to the front desk and before she could say a word, shoved the pen up her nose. 

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" She yelled and jumped up from her seat. She then proceeded to run around the room like a chicken with its head cut off and flap her arms helplessly.

"Jounouchi! You're our hero!" Ryuji yelled from the other side of the room as he jumped up from his chair. Vaulting over a table he came to stand right in front of Jounouchi. "May I?" 

"Uh… yah…" Jou said uncertainly.

In one quick motion Ryuji swept all the papers and knick knacks off the teacher's desk and then pushed Jou down onto it. They then began again what they had been doing in the loo before classes had started that morning. But this time in front of a room full of people on the teacher's desk. But Jounouchi didn't care. He was the hero! He had saved them all from the boredom of physics! The tediousness of mathematics that they had already learned! He was the caped crusader, the masked avenger, the man in tights! Well… maybe not tights… but the main point was; he had saved them all! 

There was a slight tickling sensation on his right hip. Ryuji was toying with him. He smiled into the kiss and leaned into the touch… at which point he was poked quite hard.

"Quit dat! I'm snogin Ryuji!" He yelled at the person that had poked him. 

He opened his eyes to find himself sitting in physics class with the whole class staring at him. He looked down to see that his physics worksheet was damp, and that Seto was leaning in close. The teacher looked like she had seen a ghost and many of the other students were watching him in either amusement or disgust. 

Ryuji broke the silence with a loud, hearty laugh and the thunk of him falling off his chair laughing. Seto shook his head, and looked away, trying to contain his laughter. 

'_Oh my gods… oh my gods… oh my oh my oh my! I didn't just do that did I? DID I?!?!? Why won't the earth ever open up and swallow you whole when you want it to? WHY ME?!' Jou though in a panic, glancing around frantically._

"Um… Mr. Katsuya…" the teacher started, but was clearly at a loss for words. She tried again. "Jounouchi…" but failed yet again.

"Oh my gawd!" A girl yelled, "That was SO wrong!"

"You have a problem with that?" another girl shot back?

"Well, yah, it's like… wrong!" the first girl shouted in her high pitched voice.

"You are so narrow minded!" a boy added in.

The class then erupted into a heated debate about homosexuality and if it was morally wrong or not.

All Jou could do was sink even lower in his chair and pray that either a) the bell rang or b) the earth would come and swallow him up.

Thankfully, luck decided to stop tormenting Jou and the bell rang.

Jou zipped up his binder and had his books collected faster than Superman dodges a speeding bullet and was heading out the door when someone caught his arm.

"wait Jou." Seto said quietly. He hastily shoved his binder into his bag and then they headed out of the classroom together. They had a 15 minute break now. "So, Ryuji's been sneaking kisses has he?"

"What makes ya say dat?" Jou asked defensively.

"You just yelled 'I'm snoggin Ryuji' in class." 

"Oh… yah… just a couple."

Seto sighed. "I expected as much." 

"So, where are we headed?" Jou asked glancing down the hallways, trying to figure out where Seto might be leading him.

"The bathroom." Seto stated simply.

Jounouchi's eyes widened as Seto pulled him into the bathroom. Per usual, the room was deserted and the door swung shut behind them. Unlike Ryuji, Seto pushed Jounouchi into a stall and followed him in. He closed the door behind him, then manoeuvred so that Jou had his back to the stall door Seto leaned in and kissed him. As the seconds changed to minutes, nobody entered the bathroom and the kiss slowly intensified and Seto pushed Jounouchi even further against the stall door. Ever once in a while the door would creak a couple millimetres back. And after about 7 minutes of their make out session the door gave an angry groan and swung backwards

"Iie!" Jou yelled as he suddenly had nothing to support his weight other than Seto… who had been leaning on Jou. So they both wound up crashing to the floor in a most ungraceful manner. Seto managed to absorb his fall so that he landed lightly on top of Jou but Jou crashed to the unforgiving linoleum clumsily. (think of Jou with x_X eyes. ^^;;)

"Are you alright?" Seto asked worriedly.

The door then swung open and Bakura entered the bathroom. He took one look at the two boys on the floor, "Alright! I don't need to use the bathroom! I give up Ra damn it!" He then turned around and stormed out of the bathroom.

"What was that all about?" Seto asked, staring after Bakura. 

Rubbing his head Jou responded, "He walked in on me and Ryuji in the other bathroom by da gym…"

Seto raised an eyebrow. 

The door swung open again, but this time it was Ryuji. Upon seeing Seto and Jou on the floor his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "You couldn't wait until after school to have sex? I'm definitely losing the contest"

"what?" Jou exclaimed, "No, me and Seto… we weren't… sex with _him?! Get offa me Seto!!" Seto hastily got off of Jounouchi, who after being released jumped to his feat and moved away from Seto. "Wes was just kissin then the door opened and we fell and… gods this sounds absurd, I'm going to find a Tylenol because ma head hurts." And with that Jou pushed past Ryuji and into the hallway. _

The door clicked shut and the cat and the dragon were left staring at each other.

"You've been sneaking kisses." Seto stated.

"So were you."

They stood there a moment longer, until the bell rang anyways. They both glanced at the clock and considered leaving the bathroom yet remained stationary.

Seto walked slowly walked towards Ryuji. Ryuji stood, unwavering, showing no signs of fear or distrust to his fellow classmate. 

"The game is still very much on." Seto stated, leaning down so that their noses were barely even a centimetre apart. "But that doesn't stop me from anything." And he leaned in even closer claiming Ryuji's lips much like he had Jou's moments earlier.

~*~English (or whatever the Japanese equivalent to it is…) 12 minutes later~*~

Jou looks up as there is a knock at the door. The teacher sighs and places the book she had been reading from on her desk, marking the page as she closed it, and walked over to the door. Opening it she reveals a very late Seto Kaiba and Ryuji Otogi. 

"You boys do realize that you are over five minutes late for my class?" She said. She sounded annoyed. Glowering up at them, (for she was very short, nearly a foot shorter than Seto) "what are your excuses?"

"None Mrs. Howey." [2] They said in unison, heads bowed.

"Well then boys, I'll expect you here at 3:20 for an hour worth of detention. And try not to be late for that too."

"Yes Mrs. Howey." They said in unison.

"Now take your seats."

The two boys walked off to their respective seats sullenly to endure yet another hour of hell. [3]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taryn & Faye: *are both singing the Inuyasha theme song while they listen to it on the computer.*

Ryuji: … ever since they saw Inuyasha on YTV last Friday it's been an instant obsession of theirs…

Seto: we'll do everything then. First Taryn would like to inform you all that voting for pairings will not sway her decision. She knows what she's doing and like it or not, that's what's going to happen. 

Jou: and flames will be kept by Taryn to burn her physics teacher to a crisp, so flaming her would be giving her a big hand really.

Yami: and Jou's daydreaming about getting out of physics class was written by Taryn in physics class… she finds the class dreadfully dull and would do anything to get out of it really…

Yuugi: now be nice and review! *puppy dog eyes*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

[1]Professor Binns from Harry Potter. Which I dun own… and I do have a teacher that is just as interesting as the professor of magical history.

[2] Mrs. Howey… the scariest teacher ever… she's like 5'0 and scary as hell. O.O I had her for grade 9 Entrepreneurship in my Commerce and Computers class… she still scares me…

[3] Hell = school.


	3. The not so Nice Man

Taryn: WhOOt! An update

All: *applaud*

Taryn: so let's cut to the chase, I haven't been updating since things have been crazy (namely school .) and I've sort of not been as obsessed with YGO as I used to be… Blame Gravitation and FAKE (both of which you should ALL check out ^__^) So, here are the responses to reviews!

Since there are SOOOO many reviews… I'ma sayin thanks to everyone, then doin special responses to people that said something that I should respond to… or well, I just feel like sayin something to tehm. ^^;; But thanks to **ColeyCarissa****, dotHackSIGN, Escachick, **hotaruchan27, some girl who loves your fic, alostblackcat, DM-san, Ori-chen, shadowguardian, PanDora, **and **nix** on ff.n. And ****Dragondreamer** Yami Dragon, Neko Jounouchi AKA Jams, Kitt, Ravenwings, leaf zelendor, sd-snow-vixen, Hiei499, Yamijou, KlebKat, Sharem**, on AFF**

And now for special Reviews…

**Hotaruchan27**: … I dun drink milk by my compy… usually only water or soda. ^^;; but poor 'Kura… he's worse than I with that bunny fear o.O

**DM-san**: … I have one boy following me around hopelessly… if you want him, I can send him down there. He likes anime… but he's a homophobe .

**Ori-chen**: Dude, S/O is an awesome pairing! ^__^ But thanks… I'll see how twisted I can make these relationships… 

**Shadowguardian****: That was the point to have it odd… it's half the fun. ^__^**

**Neko**** Jounouchi AKA Jams: o.O I never thought I'd hear Seto say that… **

**Yamijou****: whoops… misunderstood review a lil bit… ^^;; but here's a cookie… sorry for making you wait so long again -_-;;**

**Sharem**: dude… everyone already things I'm a raving loon. ^__^

Taryn: and that's it… . that took forever still! GYAH!

Disclaimer: don't own YGO, plot and the totally bizarre humour are mine. No steeling of anything that's mine. And no suing for anything that's not mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Chapter 3: The (not so) Nice Man**

_'finally! Lunch!'_ Jounouchi slammed his binder shut and zipped it. (managing to zip at least three assignments in the zipper). During the unbearably long class Jou had completely forgotten about Seto and Ryuji's late arrival. The thought of why they might have been late had plagued him for several minutes… that is until he had fallen asleep. 

"JOU!" someone yelled, breaking him from his train of thoughts. Jou glanced around noticing Ryuji making his way towards him. "Yeesh, you're just gonna run out the door without me?" He muttered as he pushed some girl out of the way. She let out a shriek and fell back into her desk.

Seto just rolled his eyes and casually leaned against the desk in front of Jou. "Who said he had to wait for anyone?"

"Well, I was going to take him somewhere for lunch." Ryuji said calmly, giving Seto a cold look.

"You was?" Jou asked glancing at Ryuji in surprise, and Seto winced at Jou's bad grammar

"Well, I was if you wanted to go out for lunch… frankly I loathe that hell hole of a cafeteria…"

"Yah! That sounds great; I'd love to go out for lunch." Jou grinned stupidly, until his face fell. "Other than I can't." 

"Hm? Why not?" Ryuji asked, looking disappointed. 

"Because I promised Malik I'd help him with math at lunch today."

"You, help someone with school work?" Seto scoffed, nearly losing his balance from the shock.

"Hey, just because I may act like a dumbass on occasion doesn't mean that I am one." Seto raised an eyebrow.

Jou was about to continue but the three boys heard a cough from the corner of the room, noticing the teacher staring at them with a "why are you still here?" look. Ryuji smiled apologetically at her, and grabbed both Jou and Seto by an arm each, pulled them out of the classroom and into the crowded hallways. 

"Now, you were saying something about your intelligence level?" Ryuji prodded.

"Huh?" Jou asked, scratching his head. Seto fought the urge to smack Jou but refrained… "OH!" Jou exclaimed, "Well, just because I may be a dumbass… no wait, that wasn't right…" Seto settled with massaging his temple with his right hand. "What I meant was…"

"Just because you act like a dumbass on occasion doesn't mean you are one?" Ryuji offered.

"Yah, dat's it. And I'm not bad at math either. You know dat test in math we had da second day? Da one dat nearly everyone failed?" Ryuji cringed at the mention of it. "Well, I got da second highest score. Seto's bein da highest of course…" Jou said triumphantly.

Seto's eyes widened in surprise and he stopped rubbing his temple. "You're kidding right?" 

"Nope, got a 95%." Jou beamed. 

"Well… that's a shock." Ryuji muttered. 

They were walking through a doorway and since Ryuji wasn't paying attention to where he was going, he ran into the pole between the doors instead of going through one of them. Ryuji rubbed his nose gingerly and glared at the offending door. "Ow." 

Seto smirked, "Well, that was brilliant dice boy."

"Shut." Ryuji said, glaring at Seto. "I'm sure you've done that before."

"Actually, no. See, some of us actually pay attention to what we're doing. Which you obviously don't when you're putting on your eye liner."

"What did you say?" Ryuji asked, his voice taking on an offended tone.

"Ryuji, just ignore him…" Jou said, laying a hand on Ryuji's shoulder.

Ryuji knocked the hand off of his shoulder. "Are you mocking me Kaiba?" Ryuji challenged. 

"I suppose I am; you got a problem with that Ryuji? And seriously, what's with the makeup? Are you trying to be as feminine as possible without getting implants?"

Ryuji clenched a fist and stepped towards Seto. "You want to repeat what you just said?"

"You're very femi-"

Ryuji's fist connected with Seto's face with a sickening smack. Seto's eyes widened and his hand went up to his face.

"That was uncalled for." Seto said cooly.

"Yah man, you don't wanna pick a fight with him. He hits harder than ya think. Though what he said was also very uncalled for…" Jou was now trying to pull the raging Ryuji back, while glaring at Seto.

"I'll test that for myself thank you." Ryuji was trying to no avail pull free of Jou. 

"Hey guys, what's shakin?" Honda asked as he walked up. Noticing that there seemed to be an argument going on he backed up. "What's up with you two?" He motioned to Ryuji and Seto.

"He is one hell of a big ass." Ryuji said trying to point at Seto but having a small problem since Jou had both his arms pinned to his body.

Seto just glared. "Well, I'm not the one throwing punches. He gingerly touched his cheek and winced. "That really hurt you know."

"Serves you right." Ryuji spat back.

"Um, Honda why dontcha take Ryuji here to da caf while I have a talk with Seto?" Jounouchi asked, offering the still struggling teen to his friend. 

"No need mutt, I'm leaving anyways. See you in fourth." And with that Seto stalked off down the hallway. Jou could just imagine Seto in one of his trench coats with the fabric billowing behind him. Of course he was just wearing the horrid school uniforms so his coat couldn't really billow… but imagining never hurt anyone. Unless of course they weren't paying attention to where they were going and ran into a door.

"Run away you coward!" Ryuji yelled after him. 

Jou released the black haired teen and smacked him on the back of the head. "What da hell do ya think yer doin? Are ya stupid or somethin? Seto coulda pounded ya into oblivion and back!"

"Yah, Jou knows this first hand." Honda smirked.

"Shut up ya." Jou shot back glaring at his friend.

"Why don't we go to the cafeteria, I'm starving. And don't you have to tutor that blonde psycho in math today Jou?" Honda asked, 

Jou nodded "I'm with ya Honda."

Ryuji just muttered under his breath and allowed the two other teens to drag him down the hallway to the cafeteria. 

"And Honda, stop trying to cop a feel." Ryuji muttered

Honda's eyes widened in shock "I wasn't err…" and he ran into a closed door.

~*~*~

Seto gingerly rubbed his cheek. '_Stupid Ryuji… that fucking hurt… but I sort of asked for it ne? There's just something about him though… He arises some interesting feelings in me, so similar yet different to Jounouchi.' _

He walked swiftly into the parking lot and grabbed his remote start, starting his car. He slid in and drove away. "All I need is a little time to clear my head… and get an ice pack or something. I think my jaw's going to start swelling soon…"

~*~*~*~

Jou slumped into an empty chair next to Yuugi. "Damn is that line up long." He sighed and glanced down at his lasagne. "I hope dis is good… it took me 10 minutes to get it!"

"I always say, as long as it doesn't make you ill afterwards it was worth it." Ryou smiled. He was sitting across the table from Jou and had his yami sitting beside him, and across from Yuugi, "Which is more than I can say for Bakura's cooking… never let him cook food for you, especially meat. Unless you like your steak still mooing. [1]" Ryou cringed.

"I don't see how you can't like your steak rare. It has a richer taste when there's blood dripping off it."

Everyone in the group was repulsed by this tidbit of information. And surprisingly enough, most of all was Malik. 

"Ugh… I don't even see how you can eat meat." Malik muttered, staring at Bakura in disgust. "Meat is just so-"

"Oh my gawd! You all will not believe what just happened!" Anzu exclaimed as she bounded up to the group and sank into the chair next to Jou. "I was in the bathroom and I heard these girls talking and apparently Seto Kaiba and Ryuji Otogi are having a contest over some girl!"

Everyone at the table nearly fell off their chairs. Apparently Anzu hadn't yet been informed of the bet.

"Anzu… they're not having a contest over some girl, they're having it over Jou." Ryou said quietly.

"WHAT?!?!" Anzu yelled jumping up from the table and staring at Jou. "Y-y-you?!?!"

"Um.. yah…" Jou muttered, suddenly feeling very self conscious from all the people that were staring at their table.

"You mean that… that… that two of the most popular and rich guys in the school are GAY?!" 

Practically the whole cafeteria was listening in on Anzu now.

"Well, you don't have to inform everyone at once." Ryuji said smugly as he sat his plate of lasagne down on the table beside Jou. Then he casually leaned against the table, watching Anzu's expressions.

"But you're… you can't… you…"

"Don't stutter Anzu, it might make you sound less intelligent than you already are." Ryuji casually flipped some of his black hair away from his face. He seemed to be quite enjoying the attention that he was being given. 

Looking defeated Anzu slumped into a chair. "I'm not going to say anything else."

Ryuji leaned forward and patted the dejected girl on the head "Good girl." Anzu glared at Ryuji and he drew his hand back like he was actually facing a ravenous dog. 

"Well, since I'm not yelling anymore, you might as well tell me the whole story, beginning to end." Anzu looked over at Jou. "And Ryuji, shut up."

Ryuji opened his mouth to say something but Jou put a hand over it. "Well it all started on Friday…"

And Jou explained the whole story to everyone. Anzu was looking at Ryuji and Jou dreamily and Malik couldn't stop laughing at how Bakura had walked in on Jou and someone twice.

"Wow… how amazing." Anzu smiled, and stared off into space.

Ryuji however was distractedly watching Jou. He had found the lasagne rather greasy and hadn't eaten much of it. But the pudding cup that Jou was eating looked rather appealing. He figured that if he asked Jou, he'd share, but what's the fun in that? Many people were still giving curious glances towards their table and Ryuji knew they were waiting for someone to make a move… or something like that. Jou brought a pudding laden spoon to his mouth, and ate the pudding, a second later he proceeded to talk with a mouth full of pudding. That's when Ryuji struck. He claimed Jou in a soft kiss, managing to slip his tongue into the blonde's mouth and steal some of the pudding. Jou responded at first with surprise, but shortly complied and leaned into the kiss. 

In the background there was a chorus of cheering, booing, oohs, ahhs, and the occasional ewws. But quite frankly, the two boys didn't seam to care much. Until a hand gripped each of them by a shoulder and pulled them apart. They were suddenly looking into the unblinking eyes of their principal. Ryuji gulped and Jou paled immensely. 

"It seems you boys have a disregard for the rules. I'd like to speak with both of you in my office as soon as you can make it." He glanced towards their unfinished lunches. "In other words, finish your lunch, and then come immediately there. And don't forget to throw out your garbage."

The two boys nodded. Both of them now too worried to even think about eating. They both grabbed what remained of their lunches and headed towards the garbage can.

During this whole ordeal their table had stayed fairly quiet, and, as the cat and the dog left, the table still remained silent, even though nearly every pair of eyes in the cafeteria were watching the pair leave the room.

"One part of me wants to murder ya… and the other wants to jump ya in a broom closet." Jou muttered once they entered the hallway.

"I get those feelings from people a lot… usually not at the same time though." They walked in silence. "Hey… there's a broom closet." Ryuji smiled and took Jou by the arm.

"Try it and get yer pretty lil face smashed into the lenolium." Jou flicked Ryuji's hand off his arm.

They both turned into the front hallway and approached the principal's office. In solemn silence they trudged into the room, like men to a firing squad

"Sit." The principal said sternly, motioning to 2 chairs set as far from each other as possible. 

They both took a chair, knowing that despite the principal's calm attitude earlier he was actually a different man once you were left alone with him.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?!" he yelled staring at them. "I won't accept ANY people making out in public in my school! Especially NOT GAY couples!"

The two boys both shrunk back in their seats. 

"Mr. Katsuya, I knew you were a bad seed. You've been in my office numerous times for bullying and other acts of violence, but I don't believe you're gay. Mr, Otogi on the other hand, you've been in here before for inappropriate displays of behaviour."

Jou glanced over at Ryuji, his eyes widening even more (though that wasn't really possible, for surely if he widened them much more they'd pop right out of their sockets." 

"Mr. Katsuya I'm going to let you off with just a warning, leave my office. I know that Mr. Otogi most likely got you into this mess against your will."

"But Mr.-"

"Katsuya, leave."

Sighing Jounouchi got up, gave a pleading look at the principal and then gave an I-wish-you-the-best-of-luck look to Ryuji and exited the room. 

"Look, Mr.-" Ryuji began but was cut off.

"Do not speak a word. You are in deep trouble again Mr. Otogi. I don't care if you could buy our fine establishment or not, your behaviour since your arrival here has been unacceptable. And now you're trying to corrupt fine young men into your foul ways."

"Being gay is perfectly ace-"

"I don't care! If you're making out with a girl! You were still making out with someone! You're going to be spending an hour in detention every day for the next month! If I catch you again, I'm going to find a way to expel you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do." Ryuji said solemnly and stared at the garish linoleum.

"Now have a nice day." The principal quipped sternly and flopped into his chair.

Ryuji stood up, scraping his chair across the floor. "Good day to you too." And he slammed the door on his way out

_The NERVE of that bastard… I've only been in ONCE and that wasn't even MY fault…_

~*~firtst day of school~*~

"Oh come on cat eyes." The girl smiled coyly and wrapped a slender arm around Ryuji's neck.

"Ok, get off of me you freak!" Ryuji tried to pull her off, but didn't want to hurt the poor girl. "Seriously, if I need to I will hurt you."

She slammed a hand against the wall beside Ryuji's head "You're not going anywhere, you're gonna kiss me now. " And she leaned in, Forcing Ryuji against the wall and smashing their lips together.

~*~back to now~*~

_That stupid bitch… If I find her again, I'm gonna give her a beating… because of her stupidity the principal thinks I'm a slut and is trying to expel me! Jeeze it's the fricken second week of school and I've already been dug a hole to __Canada_!_[2]_

"Ryuji!" 

Ryuji glanced up to see a worried looking Jou.

"Are you ok? What'd he do?"

"well, I'm in detention for the next month, the principal thinks I'm a slut and I think that lasagne's making me ill."

Jou laid a hand on Ryuji's shoulder, "C'mon man, let's go to the washroom… then I have to go tutor a psychopath in math. You could always tag along and keep me from getting stabbed."

They began walking off towads the bathroom 

"Hey, Jouno, you think we could pay Malik to murder the principal?"

"Dude, I think he'd pay us to let him do it..." Jou smiled and looked over to his companion. "And if he wasn't up for it, Bakura definitely would."

"I think we should enlist their help…"

"You know, murder is illegal…"

"So? We wouldn't be the ones committing it."

"Still… why don't we just settle for a make out session in the john?"

"Heh, I could go for that too."

They steered off towards the nearby washroom and Jou wrapped an arm around Ryuji's shoulder. Ryuji pushed open the door and they came face to face with none other than Bakura.

"I beat you this time! I can't walk in on you making out this time!" Bakura said, and smirking stalked off down the hallway.  

Both boys smiled slightly and then entered. 

After a few moments of making out, they heard the door swing open.

"I forgot my binder…" Bakura muttered as he walked past Jou and Ryuji who were standing, noses touching.

"Face it Bakura, you're cursed."

"I may be at that, but if you don't shut up, you won't have anything to kiss that mutt with." Bakura stormed out of the bathroom and the door slammed with a bang.

Jou shrugged and pushed Ryuji back against the wall and continued where they had left off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taryn: okkies. That's where I leave it. ^__^ No smacking of authoress or no more fic. Pure and simple.

Bakura: I hate public washrooms ~_~

Taryn: and I wanna talk to y'all about something. If you're gonna review just to say something like "KAIBA AND JOU BELONG TOGETHER AND RYJI SHOULD LEAVE THEM ALONE" then save it for someone else… I know where I'm going with this and you're not gonna change my mind. . so be patient and write something meaningful okkies?

Faye: so leave your pretty lil reviews, and flames will be used to burn Taryn's physic teacher's house to the ground. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[1] For all of you that didn't catch that, 'Kura's known for liking his meat… rare. 

[2] Ok, he lives in Japan… dig a hole straight through the world from there and you'd prolly wind up in Canada…


	4. Working For Vacation

AN: I'm back na no da! I'm sorry I haven't updated… had the worst case of Writer's Block ever… well, it was only a Yu-Gi-Oh one, but whatever. This is my sixth version of chapter 5. (All the other ones were different) but I didn't like any of them. On a completely random note, are any of you FAKE fans? sob it ended just last week! But vol 7 was so good! All the beautiful yaoi. Anywho, onto the thank yous! On ff.n: Shadowguardian, Escachick, DanDora, Kiwana, ori-chen, nix and Ru-chan. And on AFF YamiJou, LeafZelindor, BallroomBlitz, Sakata Ri Houjun, Katmon. And I'd like to thank Dm-san and hotaruchan27 for IMing me and saying they liked it… for some reason they couldn't review

To nix: I don't' really know if I'm that great… but whatever floats your boat. 

To Sakata Ri Houjun: No, can't go wrong with any Ryuji pairings. And I'll have to remember that… 

To Katmon: I know Katsuya's his name… but I've gotten so used to Jounouchi. Mostly because that's what they call him in the manga all the time. And you were right, if you dug right through the ocean you'd wind up in the Atlantic… I mainly said Canada because I'm more partial to it since I live there. ;;

Warning: shonen-ai/yaoi, cursing.

Paiirngs: Seto/Jounouchi, Ryuji/Jounouchi, mild Seto/Ryuji

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, credit for the title goes to my online onee-chan hotaruchan27.  

(and a final note, since ff.n is screwy, the scene changes SHOULD be marked by a --- instead of my regular )

**Chapter 4: Working for Vacation**

Ryuji stared at the clock. He had been watching it ever since he had shown up 47 minutes and 54 seconds ago. '_How can 1 hour take so long to pass? And to think, I have to sit through this for the next month.' _He looked back up 48 minutes 39 seconds. He drummed his fingers on his desk but when he got an annoyed look from the teacher he stopped. 

He sighed and glanced to his left where Seto sat. He was sleeping… '_That's odd, I don't think I've ever seen Seto sleep in school before. I guess he must tire himself out working so much. He is rather cute though when he's sleeping… yet not nearly as adorable as my precious inu_.'

Feeling eyes on him Seto opened his and gave Ryuji a bemused smirk. Sweatdropping Ryuji smiled back and then turned to stare off in the other direction. 

_'Yah, I almost forgot he's trying to seduce me… I wonder when this game got so screwed up. If Seto wasn't so selfish, then I could have claimed Jou for myself last weekend. Stupid git…'_

_'50 minutes, 14 seconds.'_

---

Jou flopped on the bed. It was nearly 8:00 and he was bored out of his mind. His room was spotless and his homework was done.

_'I can't stand being here. The tv's been busted since last month, and dad's not doing anything to fix it. I don't have a computer either. I don't even have a fucking library card anymore. I guess I could just sit here and stare at the ceiling…'_

There was a crash from the other room. It didn't even phase Jou, he just continued to stare at the ceiling. Moments later loud cursing erupted and thunderous footsteps stormed their way to Jou's door.

"DAMMIT KID! Didn't I tell you to not leave your shit lying around?"

"Dad, anything that's mine is in my room," Jou shot back. He rolled over so that his back was facing the door and he proceeded to study the wall.

"Don't you dismiss me! Get your punk ass out here!" The elder Katsuya banged on the door a couple of times.

Jou sighed. He slowly got up from his bed and trudged to the door. Lazily he slid the door open and found himself face-to-face with his father. The elder Katsuya was red-faced and drunk as an Irishman on St. Patty's day.

"Listen dad, I didn't leave anything lying around. You must have put it there and then forgotten about it."

"It aint my shit." He shoved a parcel into Jou's chest. Now keep your stuff clean, or I'll kick you out." He stumbled off down the hall and muttered something along the lines of "rotten kid, can't do anything for himself. All he does is suck 'way my money."

Jou sighed and slipped his door shut. He trudged over to his bed and sank onto the mattress. The parcel was battered and looked like it had had coffee or some other liquid spilled on it, an indicator that it had maybe been sitting around the house for a while. 

Slowly Jou opened the parcel, inside was a box, and a letter. It was from Shizuka

_'Dearest Jounouchi,_

_I know we haven't seen each other for a while, and I miss you. Mom won't let me come visit, she says it's because of dad. Is he any better? Mom still won't tell me why she left, she just says it was dad's fault. Is he… is dad an alcoholic? I haven't seen him in years, and I don't remember him well.' _

Jou sighed, she could be so naive… but that was one of the things he loved about his younger sister.

_'Right, well a friend of mine took this picture of me and I really liked it so I thought I'd send it to you. I don't think I've sent you a picture in a few years. I hope that we can see each other soon. _

_Love, Shizuka_

_Ps: mom says you can visit any time, but you have to find your own way here. _

_Pps__: There'll be a surprise for you in November.'_

Jou blinked at the last post script. He shrugged though, and opened the parcel. Inside was a framed photograph of Shizuka standing in front of a Sakura tree with blossoms floating down around her. Unfortunately, the glass on the frame was shattered, most likely from Jounouchi's father dropping it. 

_'Shizuka, some day I'll come visit you… first I need money though. _Jou sighed. _That means one thing, I need a job.' _

Jou was suddenly struck by the brilliance fairy [1] "I'll start looking for one tomorrow. And I can write a resume up tonight. Not like I got anything better to do."

---

He slowly moved around the towering shelves. He was a master of stealth, nobody saw him coming and he could disappear like a phantom in the night. 

His victim was sitting, peering at a small screen, his nose no more than 10 centimetres from the screen. Long fingers brushed through blonde hair. 

The predator smiled slyly as he came up behind his prey. He lightly touched the blonde's shoulder and exclaimed, "Good morning Jou-kun!"

Jounouchi shot out of the computer chair like a cat with his tail on fire. He spun around and glared at the other boy. "RYUJI! Why da hell did you do that? You scared the bejeezus out of me!"

Ryuji dropped into a nearby chair and began laughing. "Oh that was priceless!"

"You two!" Hissed the librarian from Hades. 

Both boys blinked and became stalk still. The librarian stormed over to where Jou had been using a computer. She was glaring like she was out for blood. 

"This is a library! I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you two to leave. You can't be making noise like that!"

Ryuji was the first to recover. "But Miss. Grant," He batted his eyelashes, "We'll be quiet as mice. I just accidentally scared my friend here." He twirled some of his long black hair around a finger. 

The teacher seemed to be drawn in by Ryuji's charm. Her glare softened to a look of adoration and she smiled. "Of course, but please be quiet, this is a library after all." She wandered off to go yell at other unfortunate students.

"That was kind of cool… and extremely disturbing." Jou said.

Ryuji sweatdropped. "She's been semi hitting on me since I came here… at least we're not in trouble anymore."

Jou sunk back down onto the chair and looked up at Ryuji. "So is dere some reason why you snuck up on me?"

"No particular reason, I just wanted to see what you were up to. By the way, what are you doing?"

"Typing up resumes."

"You need a job?"

"No really." Jou rolled his eyes.

Ryuji was un-phased by the sarcasm. "When can you start?" 

"Pretty much anytime, why you asking?"

"One of my employees is moving out of the city, I was worried I was going to have to go through the horror of job interviews again."

Jou blinked. "You mean come work for you."

Ryuji shook his head. "I'm not asking you binder to come work for me."

"Well, dat's great." Jou smiled

"I thought you might like that…" Ryuji sat on the chair next to Jou's and leaned in for a kiss…

A hand came between their lips and both pairs connected with it. In shock both boys looked up into the icy orbs of none other than Seto Kaiba.

"I don't think that's school appropriate conduct." The brunette said, scowling down at the two of them.

"Aww, is Icy a widdle tired today?"

"Icy?" Seto inquired

"You need a nickname Seto. Or would you prefer Kaiba-boy?" Ryuji's question was answered by a swift blow to the head from a history text book. Ryuji smiled "Oh look! I've been hit!" [2]

Seto merely cringed at the apparent stupidity of the other teen while Jou smiled. "No wonder you two get along so well, you're both so stupid." Seto muttered.

"I resent that." Both Ryuji and Jou said in unison then burst out laughing. 

Seto backed up a couple steps. "Exactly HOW many cups of coffee did you two have this morning."

"Apparently more than you." Ryuji replied. "You're extremely snarky this morning."  

"At least I'm not giggling like a school girl." Seto shot back.

Ryuji stopped laughing and pouted. "But aren't I a cute little school girl?" He twirled some of his hair around a finger and trailed his other hand down his chest seductively. Both Seto and Jounouchi were momentarily transfixed.

"Morning all." Ryou sauntered over and dropped onto a nearby chair. "Ryuji, if you keep doing that people are going to know you _are_ a girl opposed to just thinking you are."

Ryuji looked over to the albino and shot him a foul look. "That's not funny. I'm a guy and you know it."

"You may have the genitalia of one, but you sure don't act like one." Ryou smiled. Seconds later a die collided with his forehead. "Hey, you could take someone's eye out with one of those!"

Seto just shook his head. "So, what were you two doing before I interrupted your attempted make-out session in the middle of the library?"

"Ryuji offered me a job." Jou smiled.

Seto's eyes widened. "You needed one? How long were you looking, you could have come to me you know." 

"Well, I didn't know so many people were hirin', or I wouldda started lookin' earlier." 

"Looks like someone's jealous." Ryou cooed.

Seto looked about ready to hit Ryou with something. "Do you have a death wish today Ryou?"

Ryou blinked. "Uh… no Seto. Well, no more than usually you know."

The taller teen shook his head and looked back at Ryuji with a scowl. "But don't you think you're being selfish? And besides, you still have detention for the rest of the month." 

"Ugh… don't remind me of detention."

The bell rang and people started filing out of the library in crazed mobs. 

Ryuji took Jou by the arm. "Come on, let's sign you out of the computer, then get you to class." He grinned and winked at Seto, "Meet you there"

---

Right after the bell for the final period went Ryuji was on Jounouchi. "Ok, so you ready to start work?"

Jounouchi sweatdropped. "I didn't know you were that impatient to get a new employee."

"Well… if I hang around here too long the principal might think I was just trying to get out of detention for no reason. And yes I'm impatient to get an employee as gorgeous as you."

Jounouchi blushed. "Thanks… I think? What do ye mean get out of detention?"

"I cut a deal with the principal so that I could serve my detention at lunch. I explained to him that I had to train my new employee."

"I'm guessing, that'd be me."

"Right, now let's go for the $2,000 question."

"Ha, ha, very funny." Jounouchi rolled his eyes. '_I guess Ryuji's been watching more of those American game shows. Was it just me, or did that host of that Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Show have REALLY white teeth?'_

The two boys headed out of the class and headed to their respective lockers. Jounouchi took 3 minutes just to open his. _'I don't know what it is about this lock, but it really doesn't like me anymore. Maybe I've dropped it on the floor a few too many times. Or maybe the lock god hates me for some reason. I'm going with option a.'_ After finally getting in, he grabbed his books. 

"Yeesh, you take a long time." Ryuji grinned as Jounouchi jumped nearly half a foot in the air. He winked at the blond and leaned against the locker next to Jou's.

"Sorry, damn lock doesn't like to open some days." He continued rifting through the messy locker until he found all the books he needed to bring home. He shoved everything hastily into his backpack and slammed the locker shut. 

"Ready to go pup?" Ryuji grinned and slid an arm around Jou's waist. The two boys headed out of the school and began walking to the game shop. "So…" Ryuji began to try to break the silence. "What did you do at lunch without me there?" 

Jou sweatdropped. "Well, I had lunch with Seto…"

Ryuji sighed. "I guess that's to be expected since I wasn't there to sweep you off your feet." Jounouchi blushed slightly. "But instead I spent my lunch hour staring at a classroom wall. I wonder why teachers have it out to get me."

"Maybe it's the hair?" Jou offered.

Ryuji stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and grabbed Jou by the arm. "You don't like my hair?" 

'_Oh shit… he looks fricken scary!' _Jou trembled slightly. "No, I love da hair, it's just that… well…"

"Well what?" Ryuji released the blonde and put a hand on his hip.

"Well, most guys don't have hair that long… it makes ya look a bit… different. But, the strikin' green eyes and eyeliner did set you apart anyways." Ryuji's eyes became slits, almost like a cat's. "But, that's what makes you, you! You shouldn't let them teachers take away yer freedom. I think you look good with the hair and I always liked yer eyes, even if I didn't like you at first." 

Ryuji seemed to calm at this and began chewing on his lower lip. "Maybe they're jealous. None of the teachers are nearly as pretty as I am."

The blonde resisted the urge to sweatdrop and call Ryuji Legolas. [3] "Yah, that's it Ryuji." 

The cat smiled and took the dog by the arm and began leading him down the street again. "Would you like to know what you'll be doing?" Jounouchi nodded. "Mostly you'll be manning the front counter or putting stock in the game shop. I'm supposed to be working up front today, so it'll work out good for the training."

'_Sounds simple enough.__ I think I can handle this… unless Ryuji and are left alone for too long. He might try to put the moves on me then. Not that that would really be a bad thing, but what if somebody walked in? Sure most girls would go giddy over the fanservice, but what about the children, elderly people and homophobes?_'

"Jounouchi-kun, we're here." Ryuji pushed through the front doors of his game shop. The front was bustling with people buying Dungeon Dice Monsters merchandise and trying to reserve a time to have a match in one of the many arenas. 

"You can't work in your uniform, it'd just look odd." Ryuji took Jou by the arm. "You can borrow something for today. My room is upstairs off of my office, I'll show you there then you can come down once you've changed."

Jounouchi nodded and let himself be led by the raven haired teen. They entered a cluttered office, which was strewn with papers and electronic parts. There was a door to one side, Ryuji headed to it and unlocked it with his key. 

"Sorry about the mess, things have been a bit chaotic around here lately."

Jou nodded and took in the sites around him. Clothes littered the floor, the bed was messy and the desk in the one corner could not even be seen through a mound of papers. 

"Mr. Otogi!" A woman yelled from the other room. "There is an important phone call you must respond to immediately!"

He sighed and looked to the blonde. "I'm being summoned. Wear whatever looks clean." And with that he sauntered out of the room warily to attend to business. 

'_I wonder how someone can live with this much mess. It looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years, other than there isn't dust covering everything._' 

He sighed and started rifting through the closet. Sure he and Ryuji were about the same height, but Ryuji was a lot slimmer. "Jeeze Ryuji… how can you be so frickin skinny?" He held up a pair of pants to his waist. They were long enough, but the waistband seemed to be a good 5 centimetres too small. Putting the pants back he continued on his search. After moving aside several pairs of leather pants, something fell to the ground. Jounouchi bent to pick it up and froze once he realized what he was holding. "A… he uh… Ryuji…" The blonde's mouth made a little o and he stood frozen, unable to process a coherent thought.

"Sorry about that Jou-kun, have you found…" Ryuji froze as he saw Jounouchi and what the blonde was wearing. 

Jou snapped out of his trance and turned to Ryuji. He held up the black mini skirt and gave the other teen a questioning look.

"I…" Ryuji was at a loss for words. He began to absently twirl some hair around his finger. "Well… you see-"

"Mr. Otogi! We're having troubles in arena 1 again; you must get down there as soon as possible." The same woman as before yelled. 

Without a second thought Ryuji bounded out of the room. 

_'I thought he was feminine… but a cross dresser?_'

---

AN: yays, done for now. I just felt I had to leave it there. That little thing about the skirt sparked from a conversation I had with Yami-no-Yugi last night. We were discussing the Seto/Ryuji pairing and she was asking me why I liked it so much. I made a comment that Seto doesn't seem like the type to date girls, so Ryuji would be the closest he'd ever get to dating a girl. Then I naturally thought of how Ryuji would really look like a girl if you put him in a skirt and padded bra… Ooo, and to prove my dorkishness, I now own a pair of dice earrings that look rather like Ryuji's earring. I practically died when I saw them in Claires yesterday. 

I'll stop babbling now. The chapter title is a song from one of my favourite groups. Cyber cookie to anyone who can guess the group that sings it. Now please review if you have the time. No flames though please since they will be given to Yami no Bakura so he can do with them as he pleases. I don't know about you, but I don't want a psychopath like him running about with fire. 

---

[1] Who, since Jounouchi was 5, had forgotten about his existence. (Except for that one time in grade 4 that she had told Jou not to stick a fork in a light socket and instead dare another kid in his class to.)

[2] I was just thinking of a scene in Fruits Basket in which Yuki hits Ayame on the head and Aya just stands there with a smile on his face and says "Wow! I've been hit!" one of my favourite Aya scenes… 

[3] Who doesn't love all the jokes about Legolas thinking he's prettier than everyone else?


	5. All the Marbles

Ah hah… its been a while, eh? .;; I sort of wrote myself into a hole with this fic… that last chapter was a very bad idea. ::bangs head:: I was originally planning this fic to be 5 chapters. Ah hah… I have two chapters of filler now. So… uhh… enjoy another chapter of filler. I PROMISE the next chapter will be a date.

Notes: --- is a scene change. '_italics_' are Jou's thoughts.

**Chapter 5:All the Marbles**

A small smile spread across the blonde's lips. "You know Seto, we should do this more often. I like eating out."

"You just like the fact that you can stuff your face with no expense." The brunette rolled his eyes and went back to watching the other people in the mall food court. "Are you done yet? You've had three burgers. I don't see how those things haven't disintegrated your stomach yet."

Jounouchi took a final sip from his soda and crumpled up a hamburger wrapper. "I'm done now. Yeesh, keep your pants on." Seto turned to the blonde and gave him an odd look. "I guess that gets new meaning once you've snogged the person you say that to."

"I'm leaving." His voice was completely void of emotion. In one quick motion he picked up his tray and headed to the garbage.

"Aww man, don't go all Dr. Freeze on me."

"Enough with the corny American comic book references." The brunette hastily shoved his garbage in the bin and then headed off at a brisk pace through the food court.

Jou followed suit by dumping his trash. Seto wasn't paying attention though and was already several metres away. After catching up he slid an arm through one of Seto's. "Come with me to the bathroom."

The taller teen merely raised an eyebrow but shrugged and followed the blonde. The washroom was completely empty.

"Hurry up and go, or you'll have to walk back to school."

"Who said I had to go?" The blonde smirked and pushed Seto up against a wall. "I'm amazed ya didn't figure this one out." They began kissing, lips battling for dominance and hands roaming freely.

The door clicked open.

"GOD DAMMIT!"

The door banged against the wall and someone stormed out of the bathroom.

Seto and Jounouchi turned to the door to see a retreating Bakura and a rather amused looking Yami.

"Uhhh, Jounouchi-kun, are you alive?" Ryuji waved his hands in front of the blonde's face.

Jounouchi blinked and glanced around the almost empty game shop. He'd been spacing out again, thinking back to lunch. Things had been rather tense between the cat and the dog since the whole skirt incident. Neither one of them really wanted to bring it up.

"Yah, sorry man. Just thinking."

Ryuji blushed slightly. "You know that skirt? I only wore it a couple times… on a dare and then on Halloween last year." Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "I had a cousin that thought I should have been born a girl. He was a couple years older than me and always made fun of my looks." He flipped some hair behind his shoulder. "Real immature twit. Anyways, last year I spent the summer with his family since things weren't going too hot with me and my father. To gain his acceptance he gave me an initiation-like test. I had to wear a skirt and padded bra for a day and walk around town. Not so bad, but then he added in that I had to shave or wax my legs."

Jounouchi's mouth hung open. "And you did?"

Ryuji nodded. "Yah, I was a real idiot then. But it was interesting to have very smooth legs… I had a lot of guys hit on me that day."

"Please tell me you didn't wear a thong."

"I didn't, but I had on a pair of pink knickers. And they weren't really that uncomfortable…"

Jounouchi was at a complete loss for words. Nervously he began to fiddle with his hair studied a nearby wall.

"Oh come on, it turns you on. Doesn't it?"

Jounouchi blushed madly and completely turned his back to the other teen.

Ryuji came up behind the blonde, slid one arm around his wais and trailed his other hand down Jounouchi's chest. "I know I do. You just can't resist me." He began to nibble on one of Jou's ears.

"What if somebody walks in?"

"If they're any of my fangirls they'll be overjoyed. It seems that more and more these days young females are turned on by the sight of two guys getting it on." Ryuji's right hand continued to roam up and down Jounouchi's torso, slowly going lower and lower. He began to kiss down the blonde's neck…

"K-Katsuya?" a voice asked tentatively from somewhere behind the two boys.

The two boys spun around only to come face to face with a rather bewildered girl.

"Shizuka?" Jou asked.

---

A rather distant-looking Jounouchi wandered into first period. Seto raised an eyebrow at the blonde, but he didn't seem to notice. Ryuji wandered in a minute later and kept giving the blonde nervous glances.

"Ok, what happened between you two?" Seto spat. Neither Jounouchi nor Ryuji seemed to register that he had said something. "Hello?" He waved his hand in front of their faces.

Jounouchi seemed to snap out of it first. "Stop dat, it's annoyin'."

"Then what happened?"

"Well, we were in the front room of Ryuji's shop, and we was sort of snoggin'…" Jou trailed off.

"Then his younger sister came in with the intent of buying him a present for when she was going to visit him in a couple weeks. Apparently her and her mother are moving back into the city." Ryuji finished.

"It's not that she didn't take it well. Well… she did after a while. She was pretty shocked at first. But things didn't get bad until mom came in. She'd seen Ryuji and me through the window. I never knew she could yell that much."

"And that's not even the juicy part." Ryuji grimaced and rubbed his shoulder gently. "She hit me with her handbag. A lot…"

Jounouchi gave a weak smile. "Then things get more interestin', She called dad and when I got home he threw a lamp at me." He pulled some hair away from the side of his face to show a large purple bruise.

"Holy shit, he did that?" Seto huffed.

"Naw." Jounouchi gave his companions a broad grin. "That's from when I wiped out on the floor at Yuugi's house and hit ma head on the banister. Ryuji and I were just bein all down and out just to freak ya out."

Seto scowled at the two as they laughed at his expense.

"Anyways, back to ma story. See, afta dad threw the lamp I went to Yuugi's to spend the night. Anyways, back to fallin', Sogaruko freaked and brought me to the hospital to check if I had brain damage and I had to phone dad since I didn't have my health card. He freaked out and came ta the hospital immediately. He still thinks I tried to kill maself."

Seto chuckled slightly as the blonde finished his story. "Seems like you had a rough night."

"No kiddin', I practically had to bribe ma old man so that I could even get out of the house to go ta school." He rubbed his temple and scowled at the floor. "If he's gonna be like that now, I almost wish he'd go back to his drunken bastard self."

Ryuji rubbed Jou's shoulder with one hand and flicked some hair behind his shoulder with the other. "At least he's not bothering you about your sexual preferences. When my dad found out about me things didn't go so well."

Both of Ryuji's companions gave him a raised eyebrow look.

"Well, it might be a bit disconcerting when you come home to see your son naked in a hot tub with another boy." He laughed nervously. "That's pretty much when I decided that I was going to move out on my own, try to make Dungeon Dice Monsters a big success and use my college savings to start a game shop."

Seto's eyes widened slightly. "You gave up your college savings on a whim to start a game shop?"

"Little too reckless for you, Kaiba-boy?"

"Don't you dare call me that! And no, I just didn't expect something like that."

There were practically sparks flying between the two. Seto had one of his trademark icy glares fixed on Ryuji while the raven-haired boy had Seto fixed with a mischievous look. Jounouchi sighed and leaned between the two.

"Jeeze, don't you two start fightin' now. I've had enough yellin' for a while."

The bell signalling the beginning of class rang. Everyone shuffled off to their respective desks and not so readily awaited the teacher to begin.

---

Lazily Jounouchi flung open the door to the apartment and wandered in. "Hey dad, I'm home."

There was no answer from the house. Not that Jou had been expecting one. Usually his dad would be sleeping or out drunk at this time of day. But due to yesterday's events it would not have surprised Jou if his father had been lurking around, waiting for him to show up.

It was just after 8:00. Jounouchi had put in a 4 hour day at Ryuji's game shop. He would have stayed later but there had been a malfunction in one game room and the whole building had had to close early. Seeing as Ryuji had been in a foul mood and that there was little Jounouchi could have done to help he had decided to go home.

'_Wonder where dad is. I could really use something to eat though.'_

He went into the kitchen and opened the cupboard. After seeing the interior of the cupboard he took a double-take. '_That's new…_' There was a total of six paper cups in the cupboard. He glanced over to the sink to see that it was in fact void of any eating utensils.

Scratching his head he opened up the next cupboard door to see if there were any plates. There were a couple paper plates stacked onto a half dozen plastic camping plates.

"Ok, this is _too_weird."

He opened up the cutlery drawer, not knowing what to expect. To his mild surprise all the spoons and forks were in their proper place. However, the knife slot was a different story. It was completely empty except for a yellow, plastic orange peeler.

'_Do I even want to know what this is about? If somehow this is dad's logic when he's sober, I want him when he's drunk again. At least I could predict what he was going to do then.'_

Then he noticed the note on the counter. He picked it up and read the sloppy writing.

_Katsuya, I've hidden anything I thought you could use to hurt yourself. Don't bother looking for them, they're behind lock and key. The can opener's hidden away too. Don't kill yourself. –dad_

"I think he's finally lost every last one of his marbles." Jounouchi laughed nervously and brushed some hair out of his eyes. "Maybe it's not too late to go out for dinner." He crumpled up the note and tossed it into the bin on his way out.

---

After a very healthy dinner (consisting of a Big Mac meal –super sized of course-), Jounouchi had taken to walking through the quickly emptying park. It was nearly nine and most sane people had gone home to where they would be safe from muggers and the cold. He shoved his now cold hands into the pocket of his green jacket. He didn't really care to go home seeing as there was nothing to do there. The day had been unusually slack and had left Jounouchi with no homework. If he went home, that would result in him doing nothing more than thinking about the cursed contests and how he'd have to choose either Ryuji or Seto by Monday. ****

_'Dammit, this whole contest thing is driving me crazy. It's all so confusing… I mean a couple weeks ago, I hadn't really even considered being gay that much. But now… I'm daydreamin' 'bout guys. Sheesh, I even woke up wet this morning from that dream I had about Seto … I didn't know I could dream that vividly.'_

Lost in thought Jounouchi blindly wandered the pathways, hands in pockets and mind in the gutter. And as he wandered, the sky darkened and very few people were even about.

Jou sat down on the ledge around the fountain in the centre of the park. It was just a basic fountain that shot water into the air, but there were Sakura blossoms floating in it. Jou stood transfixed by their beauty. Watching the fragile petals float on the inky dark water. A slight breeze began to blow, gently moving his blonde locks. He smiled slightly, enjoying the serene scenery.

He was so absorbed in its beauty that he didn't hear anything. Two hands gently slipped around his waist.

"GYAH!" Jounouchi's elbow flew back, nailing the person in the stomach. But in his panic Jounouchi was set off balance and he began to fall… towards the fountain.

SPLASH.

The single duck that had been in the pond when he fell squawked and flew off. Jounouchi coughed and stared up at the person he had elbowed. Standing hunched over was none other than Seto Kaiba, and man did he look pissed.

"What the hell?" Seto spat, holding his stomach. "I TRY to be fucking nice, and what the hell do you do? You try and force my stomach out through my spine!"

Jounouchi stared at him stupidly, "Kaiba?"

Seto's eye twitched. "Why do I bother? You're clearly not worth my time!" He spun around slowly and began storming off. (or trying to, since it was rather difficult still because Jounouchi had hit him pretty hard.)

"Wait!" Jounouchi sputtered and splashed some water fruitlessly. The inside of the fountain was rather slippery; he was having trouble getting out. "Um… a little help here?"

"Why should I help you?"

"Because I want you to… I like you." Jou smiled stupidly and extended a water slick hand. "And if you leave me here I might die of pneumonia."

Seto stared into Jou's eyes. After grinding his teeth for a moment he took the blonde by the hand and pulled him out of the cold water. "What were you doing spaced out like that anyways?"

"I was enjoyin' the view. Got a problem with that?" Now that he was out of the water the wind was able to get at his wet clothes and he began to shiver.

Noticing how Jou trembled slightly Seto sighed. "Come on, lets get you home before you catch cold."

Jounouchi sneezed. "Might be a bit late for that."

"It's your own fault." Seto spat and began down the paved path.

"How is it _my_ fault? You're the one who sneaked up on me."

"Snuck."

"Whatever." Jou hurried along behind his companion and scowled. "Where are you takin' me anyways?"

"To your house, where else?"

"Well, we're headed the wrong way."

Seto stopped and spun on the blonde. They were mere centimetres away. "What did you say?" He over-pronounced each word.

"I said. We're. Going. The. Wrong. Way." Jou said slowly and crossed his arms.

Seto's fist clenched at his side and he scowled at the blonde. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"I figured you were takin' me someplace else."

The brunette raised his hand, but merely sighed in exasperation. "Fine, lead the way."

"Right." Jou smiled faintly and wrapped a sopping wet arm through one of Seto's. "I'll show you to my place, and maybe you can help me find out where my dad hid the plates."

"Plates?" Seto tried to free his arm from the very wet clutches of Jounouchi, but it was useless. The damage had already been done; his precious coat was already wet.

"Yah, my dad hid them on me. Along with the cups 'n knives. Even said he hid the can opener."

Seto was silent for a moment. He was clearly having trouble comprehending what Jounouchi was saying. "Did he… justify why he did all of this?"

"Note said he didn't want me to kill maself."

"How would one kill oneself with a can opener?" Seto asked after a minute.

"I was trying to figure that one out earlier. I really have no clue though."

Seto just shrugged, he accepted the blonde's answer.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, arms looped together and Jounouchi dripping wet

---

Dm-San got the chapter title contest thingee… mostly because I tormented her on IM and told her that she knew the group. XD But the song was by Cibo Matto. Probably one of my all-time favourite groups.

Responses.

To Vulpes, Demon of fuzzy ears: I think it is canon…

To Shadowivy: Like you I despise that angle. .;; sure he can be an asshole, but that doesn't make him an abusive rapist.

To leaf zelindor: Yes, must watch more Fruits Basket. XD That is such a beautiful anime/manga.

To AlesserBeing: ::stares at naked plushie:: umm… spankuu. That's the most amusing reviewer gift I've ever received…

Err, credit goes to Sakata Ri Hojun who suggested Bakura walks in on Seto and Jou in a public washroom.

Anywho. Reviews criticisms are welcome, flames will be mocked.

And I know that Jou's father's a bit OOC… but I really don't care at this point since I like how this went.


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